I saw this cute produce bag from http://www.ecouterre.com/. It's a DIY tutorial, teaches you how to make a produce bag out of an old t-shirt.

Looks pretty easy so I decided to make one for our 1-2-3 Thursdays. Although this may be more difficult than our usual short crafts, it's still very easy to make, won't take you more than half a day. I wouldn't know how much time exactly I spent making this since I did it on and off, at home, while at the office, while at Starbucks waiting for SDEHBF. (Yes, I had the guts to finish this up at Starbucks. I had 2 hours to kill!).

So anyway, you can head on over to Ecouterre for the original tutorial or stay here and see how I did it. I have to warn you though, I was never good at sewing and if the pictures in Ecouterre weren't cute and the instructions weren't easy enough to follow, I wouldn't have done this. Sewing and I don't go together. It's been this way ever since I can remember; So please don't let me hear you laughing at how uneven my stitches are. Not even a smirk!

Tools Needed:

Materials Needed:

Steps:

1. Lay the t-shirt flat

2. Draw the shape of your tote bag. This shape would be the lines that will cut along later

3. Cut the shirt according the shape of your bag

4. Sew all the 2 pieces of cloth together, Do not sew the bag opening (Shirt Opening)

Sorry, I don't have a camera with macro, so you have to squint and stare to see my awful stitching

5. Draw dashes across the cloth starting at the 4inch line from the bag opening. Draw a dash 2 inches from the bag opening. This will serve as your handle

The 4 inch and 2 inch measurements would differ depending the size of your bag. Since mine was large, my handle was 2 inches from the opening and the lines started 6 inches from the opening. Make sure that your dashes are small. Depends on how large your bag is though. My dashes were so long (which meant that the cuts were long) that you risk your items falling out of the bag. An ideal measurement would probably be 1 inch dashes, and 1/2 inch space between the dashes. It's also good to note that you don't dash until the end/bottom of your bag. Leave at least a 4 inch allowance.

6. Cut along the dashes that you drew

So my mistake in this bag was my dashes were too long and were too near the bottom of my bag

7. Stretch your bag

My bag will spew out the items inside when you try to move it around. Also, since my cloth is weak (thin) cotton, chances of ripping is big too. So remember. SMALL DASHES.

I'd probably try again once I find a few old shirts that I can turn into tote bags. I'm planning on selling those stuff. What do you think?

Optional: Add straps to your produce tote bag. (Will try to do this if I have the time)
1. Using the left over cloth, measure your desired strap length. Width should be about 4 inches + 1/4 inch seam allowance.
2. Cut along the the lines. Make sure to make 2 pieces of this.
3. Fold the cloth wrong side out. Stitch the open long side and one of the open short sides
4. Turn the sewn strip inside out to reveal the right side of the cloth.
5. Repeat step 3 and 4 for the second strap
6. Sew the straps on the bag

A lot of supermarkets and retail outlets are taking the initiative to go green. It all started with bio- and oxo-degradeable bags that don't really decompose (or takes a very long time to decompose). Since a lot of people were thinking that the supposed "environment-friendly plastic bags" were a fluke, retailers started to offer more greener alternatives - that is the Green bags or the Eco bags.

Eco Bags are the Latest Fad

Gone were the days when we keep paper bags and nice thick plastic bags for bring our stuff to school or to the office. Having and using green bags is now a fashion statement. I don't know with you, but when I see someone using an eco bag, I smile. It makes my heart happy when someone uses buys an eco bag for their groceries or their shopping. It makes me smile more when I see people reuse their eco bags.

My Own Bag Wednesday at SM Supermarkets

I love the green initiative SM supermarkets. It's a marketing strategy for their green bags and at the same time it helps the environment.

When you shop at any SM supermarket during Wednesdays, you won't see any plastic bag being used, that's because there's an extra charge if you want to use plastic. Talk about marketing strategies eh? But still, kudos to SM Supermarkets for cooking this up.

I'd love to post a photo of my SM supermarket green bags, but one is already unfit for use, and the other's been given to someone else (it was used like a paper bag, when you return a borrowed item, you return the item with a bag that the person can keep). Those 2 were the old green bags. The first ones released (big and small bag). My new SM green bags were also given away :(

Toy Kingdom Orange Eco Bags

I frequent the huge Toy Kingdom outlet in SM Megamall. I love window shopping for toys and such. Last Christmas, I bought a lot of toys for my brother and god-children, and while I was waiting in line for the cashier, I fell in love with their orange-colored eco bag. It only comes in one size, which is EXTRA LARGE. I usually bring it with me when I plan to shop for a lot of things, or when I need to lug around a lot of stuff.

Pet Express Yellow Eco Bags

I think Pet Express is another branch of SM retailing (they ask for SM Advantage Cards). I usually buy my cat's pet food in Pet Express Cubao, and there was this time that I had an unplanned shopping spree for my pet care needs. I bought their Yellow Eco Bag along with the other pet supplies. I'll try to look for the Eco Bag. Chances are it's also given away already.

Rustans Supermarket Green bag

I rarely shop at Rustans cause it has this stereotype that it's for the rich. Late last year, I decided to check out the supermarket in Edsa Shangri-La and found that a lot of imported food are sold there. I bought a few snacks for the family and saw that they have this nice green bag. It's made of a thick cheese cloth with green prints on it. Their bag looks neat and a little mature. I like how it looks. I will post a pic as soon as I find my bag. As far as I remember, I put some change of clothes there. Have to find where I put it.

National Bookstore Red Eco Bag

It's a big red bag that's made of high quality materials. It's expensive though, compared to the common eco bags that are made of lightweight materials. I love how it looks and I often use it as a bag to carry groceries and other things, especially when I'm going for a trip. I love how National Bookstore designed this bag. It has a sturdy base and top, with a net for the body. It also has a zipper on top! Too bad they're not selling it anymore. They replaced it with the more common lightweight bag.

CVC Supermarket Green Bag

CVC Supermarket isn't as famous as the other supermarkets. It isn't as big either, but there's one near home so I usually frequent CVC supermarket. It's nice to see that despite the size of their supermarket, they still had the initiative to make an eco bag. It only comes in one small size but you can fit a lot in. I usually have one of their eco bags in my bag if ever I have to do spur of the moment shopping.

Freebie Eco Bags
When I was job hunting, I got a lot of freebies and freebie eco bags. I loved receiving Eco Bags and I usually used them to carry my books and my laptop. Eco Bags are so fab right now that even companies give out eco bags on seminars. Here are few of the ones I got from a recent Data Security Seminar.

Reuse Eco Bags

Buying and using eco bags is a great way to reduce the consumption of plastic, but we're wasting more resources if we don't reuse the bags. Sure it's okay to collect the different green bags from different stores, but do make sure that you reuse them when you're shopping. The problem is that we keep on buying new ones and not care about the old bags anymore. The eco bags are created to be reused, let's not waste the energy spent in creating an eco bag. Reuse it.

Earth Friendly. Green Living.

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Thursday, March 15, 2012

How To: Produce Tote Bag From T Shirt